Julia Hacker

Paint like nobody watching.

It took me almost 20 years to approach the direction of abstract painting.
After years of painting a more or less realistic approach to nature, I left the easel and well-known boundaries of a pre-retched-sized canvas. Of course, the hours and experience of painting and observing wildlife, her shapes, and vibrance- comes to be very useful. Describing the process of painting abstract art, I would say it is about allowing myself to dream awake. It's all about bridging the reality and subconscious, bringing subliminal on the surface.
Did you ever hear about meditation on the black dot or an object? For a long time, you intensely observe, keeping your eyes focussed on one spot. After a while, instead of a detailed shape, you will see moving vibrating colors and energy. Most likely, concentration will actually make everything out of zoom; you get lost in a strange world of elusiveness and feel like being hypnotized.
I attempted to dismiss inherent thoughts and knowledge of the landscape painting's traditional process. Allowing myself to speak a different language using new "characters "and tools of making helped a lot.
One day I stapled huge white canvas directly on the wall, took an enormous size brush (practically the size of my hands), and started to make different marks.
I felt freedom, painting in a new dimension, creating the artwork larger than me. It allowed me to feel lost, like an Alice in Wonderland. The only way to express it in words is: "I had a psychedelic trip using only paint, brush, and imagination." It was a beginning of a new journey. I was painting like nobody watching.